Quick Review: Project Hail Mary (2026)

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are two filmmakers that I feel have impressed me with whatever they have put out. Basically if they are attached to it, I’m going to go and watch it. Ryan Gosling as well is an actor that I’m always glad to see on screen. So combining the three for a movie along with Andy Weir who’s responsible for The Martian seems like a dream team combination. It seemed like the studio was very confident with this film as it was getting extremely good buzz early in the month so while I tried to keep expectations lowered, I was honestly really excited to see this film. After watching it, I can say that Project Hail Mary lives up to the hype and people will for sure have this in their favorite films of 2026 including me.

Project Hail Mary tells the story of a science teacher who wakes up on a spaceship with little to no memory of how he got on there. As he pieces everything together, he finds that he’s responsible for saving the earth by finding out what’s killing the sun. To do this though, he finds an alien creature on the way and they work together to try and save there respective planets from eternal doom.

The story of Project Hail Mary is engaging from start to finish. When a film has a runtime of 2 hours and 36 minutes, it’s easy to make a film like this go by slow, but luckily I never had an issue with the runtime of this film as it moves by really quick. Things are always moving fast enough in the story where it makes getting through it feel like a breeze, but still keeps you caring for the world around it. I’m always a sucker for a great space story as well and this film accomplishes exactly that. There’s moments of the film where I didn't know exactly where the direction of the story was going to go and it felt exciting that the story was not as predictable as I thought it would be. It’s a fantastic space story and I’m really glad I fell in love with it the way I did.

Ryan Gosling for most of this movie is the only human character in it and he manages to carry this film with his back. I think it shows how good his screen presences is because I never felt like I got sick of seeing him in the film. I think it would be easy for other actors to have this presences where they come off as unlikable here, but Gosling nails this character and you want to see him succeed in his mission. I honestly think this film doesn’t work as well if he’s not the lead which I think shows the power of his screen presence. Also we have the character of Rocky who is easy to fall in love with as soon as he’s introduced into the story. Somehow Gosling and Rocky have so much chemistry with each other and it makes for a duo that you want see succeed. Also shoutout Sandra Huller who isn’t in the film long, but has a huge presence in the film and a scene that I really liked from her. Also Lionel Boyce has a sequence with Gosling in the film that I found really entertaining to watch. But Gosling and Rocky are such an awesome duo here and they are the clear stars (no pun intended) of the film.

The visual look and practical work that went into this movie is really impressive to see on display here. The cinematography from Greig Fraser is so gorgeous to look at and when making a space movie, it’s always impressive to see something that looks visually appealing to look at. There’s a sequence in this film that is just jaw dropping to watch especially in IMAX. Rocky’s cgi as well is really impressive and it always feels like he’s in the scene with Gosling which makes him feel more real to this story. I just love watching a space movie that does feel like I’m actually watching someone in space. The work that went into the look of this movie is at full display here and the crew deserves so much appreciation for what they created.

The score from Daniel Pemberton also elevates the film so much. Daniel’s scores have been really impressing me over the years including the ones used in Spiderverse and this film only adds to that list. There’s so many tracks in this film that really bring something special out to this film. There’s a few tracks in here that I will be adding to my playlist with how good they are. Maybe a few times there’s moments where the score is a bit overbearing where it’s hard to hear some dialogue, but for the most part, the score only adds to the movie and doesn’t take anything away from from it.

The only thing that I felt bothered by is I felt like the film was doing a couple of fake out endings. There’s multiple points towards the end where I was convinced it was going to end, but the film just kept going for a bit longer. I don’t know if that’s just a me complaint, but it something that I took notice of. Besides that, this film is absolutely stunning and I loved it so much.

Project Hail Mary is a fantastic space film and already taking a spot as one of the best of the year. Years from now when we are talking about some of the best films of the decade, I think this is a film that is going to come up a lot in those discussions. Go see this on the biggest screen possible because it deserves that love.